Tides of Blood: The Minotaur Wars, Volume Two (Dragonlance)
Tides of Blood: The Minotaur Wars, Volume Two (Dragonlance)
The second title in a new trilogy from best-selling author Richard A. Knaak, now in paperback.
This direct follow-up to the best-selling War of Souls trilogy deals with the minotaurs, a race with which New York Times best-selling author Knaak is particularly associated in the minds of Dragonlance novels fans. This series moves the minotaur species to the forefront of the Dragonlance world.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Very Good Bridge Novel
Tides of Blood is the second book in the Dragonlance: The Minotaur Wars, by Richard Knaak. The first book in this trilogy was dark by Dragonlance standards and this novel is no different. I am enjoying the ‘darkerside’ of Krynn if you will. It seems the books that have been released as of late in the Dragonlance world have been sub-par to say the least. With his first novel in this trilogy Night of Blood, Knaak broke that mold and delivered a very solid book. This second book keeps that theme going and is well written and well thought out story.
I have been a fan of Knaak’s since I read Kaz the Minotaur and he doesn’t disappoint here. It is evident that Knaak has planned out this story in great detail and taken the time to think everything through as far as what he would like to happen.
As far as the story there is a good deal of action mixed in with the politics of the Minotaur empire. For a Dragonlance novel I was a little surprised of the politics as that’s not usual for DL novels.
Overall this is a very solid second book and one that will surely carry right into the final book in the trilogy.
4 Stars Solid fantasy adventure
After overthrowing the corrupt Minotaur King Chot, usurper King Hotak forges an alliance with the ogres and sets off on a war of conquest against the elves. With the help of his evil wife, a priestess of a death-cult, Hotak has eliminated much of the opposition but a few bands of rebels remain. While his daughter serves in the war against the elves, Hotak trusts his younger son and heir to the task of wiping out resistance. His older son, Ardnor, serves his mother and secretly hates both his father and his brother for failing to make him heir.
As part of his alliance with the ogres, Hotak handed over minotaur prisoners to work in the ogre mines. Faros, an escapee from one of those mines, decides to strike back. Despite himself, he begins to gather a group of followers, other minotaurs and others, who share his hatred for the ogre overlords. Meanwhile, the rebellion is slowly being crushed, and the elf forests, long protected by a magic shield, suddenly becomes vulnerable.
TIDES OF BLOOD is largely the story of Faros. Made cynical by captivity first by his fellow minotaurs and then by the ogres, Faros doesn’t want to trust anyone and certainly doesn’t want responsibility. Yet responsibility is thrust on his shoulders as he becomes the one being who can stand against the ogres and their oppression. Author Richard A. Knaak makes Faros’s attitude sympathetic, if frustrating.
In NIGHT OF BLOOD (see our review), the earlier novel in the series, Hotak made a powerful and sympathetic figure. By now, Hotak retreats to a more minor and less emotionally compelling role. Similarly, the rebels who played an important part in NIGHT are now largely on the run.
Knaak’s writing is strong enough to sustain reader interest but I found TIDES less compelling than the excellent NIGHT. As the middle book in a series, TIDES suffers from having to pick up–and end–the story in the middle. Although weaker than NIGHT, the book grabbed my interest and hooked me. The ending serves as an exciting hook for the final novel in the trilogy–I can hardly wait.
3 Stars Tides of Blood
Tides of Blood - By Richard A. Knaak
Wizards of the Coast, April 1st 2005, 384 pages
Fantasy
This is the second book of a trilogy about the Minotaur race during the war of the souls. This trilogy belongs to the book series called Dragonlance.
This book takes place in the minotaur empire and in the ogre kingdom. The time is during the war of souls. The gods have left Krynn and magic is nothing more than a shallow husk. Rumors have been spread that the undead can no longer pass on to the after life and now they wander the planet draining people who try to use magic. During this trying time, minotaur emperor Hotak has made a pact with their ancient enemies, the ogres to try to take over the continent of Ansalon. He has also forged a pact with the mysterious Mina and her growing army to try to take over the legendary home of the elves, Silvanesti. But rebels and a growing darkness plague Hotak’s kingdom right under his muzzle. As the escaped slave Faros begins to build an army of fugitives in the land of the ogres, Hotak’s wife, Nephera continues to be consumed by an unholy darkness. The main characters of this story are Hotak, the throne usurper; Faros, nephew of the late emperor Chot; Nephera, wife of the emperor Hotak and Hotak’s two sons, Bastion and Ardnor.
This is an exciting, intriguing book that will have you begging for more. Knaak makes this second book a nonstop thriller of rebellion, love, war and suspicion. His first book in the trilogy, Night of Blood, Knaak had built a powerful story and he continues it in this second installment. I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed his previous one, Nights of Blood. If you are a fan of fantasy and Dragonlance, I highly urge you to go and pick up Knaak’s trilogy today.
4 Stars Sometimes You Need a Big Slab of Beef
Knaak isn’t a great writer, like a Martin or even a Jordan, but he is solid. He never shows a great deal of originality or complex characters, but neither does me make bad choices with plot or write bad prose. As I said, he’s a solid writer, good but not great.
With this novel, he shows this, continuing his minotaur trilogy with a story that has been told before, but a story that is told well. An Emperor is brought down, a possible heir escapes into slavery, breaks free and along the way he meets a warthog and a meercat and brings down his evil uncle. So it’s a common plot. So it’s a Disney movie and a Broadway play. Sometimes you need a Big Mac. You need to not think about the story and just read, let the mind wonder, and as far as Big Macs go, this is a really good Big Mac. To steal from another company, it’s a Six Dollar Big Mac.
It is also the best of the three novels in the trilogy. The first really didn’t have a chance because of the structure. Knaak jumps around every ten pages in this trilogy, so when you start off its kind of annoying having to remember twenty names in the first fifty pages. By the second novel this isn’t a problem. You know the characters. On the action scale, it rates very high, but that’s not always a good thing. When I was fourteen I remember being entertained by “our hero versus four ogres” but now, in my twenties, I’ve been there, done that, its just filler, nothing is going to happen nine times out of ten to anyone that hasn’t been introduced in the last ten pages. This led to quite a bit skimming through this book, but all the fighting was well-done, and there are a couple nice fights evolving detailed villains. And, the plot is the best of the trilogy, revolving around the temple’s growing power, Faros’ life as a runaway slave, and the friction of the imperial family.
Final Thought: So far, post War of Souls stuff has been really bad. This is one of the better ones. If you are looking for that time frame, pick this trilogy up, its all in paperback now.
5 Stars Great Second Book
If you like battles and internal strife, this is the book for you. The second book in the minotaur series has the minotaurs already in the midst of invading Ansalon. Faros is trying to escape from imprisonment and exact revenge up his oppressors. Also, to show the unity in the ogre nations should make this worrisome for other races of Ansalon also. A major shake-up of the eastern side of the continent is going to affect the entire continent soon enough….
Filed under: Dragonlance Reviews
