Explore The Blasted Lands (Seven Forges, #2) Originated By James A. Moore Formatted As Digital

buddy read with the violent Fantasy enthusiasts at BBampB! Let's slaughter some monsters!!!


The Empire of Fellein has a new Empress and a very new and unusual enemy the Sa'ba Taalor, the gray monster riding veiled warriors, who have proven they do not play when it comes to playing for keeps.
The Fellein people are disoriented and apprehensive, They have grown comfortable in their rule over thecivilized kingdoms and the strength to repel all and every threat to their supremacy, Their arrogance is still in place, only they have no true idea whom they are facing!


Merros Dulver knows the enemy better than most.
He called some of them friends, one of them lover, and now held them responsible for the death of his best friend and the emperor Pathra Krous, as well as a deep feeling of betrayal.
The old wizard and playboy mentor of gorgeous witches wannabe Desh Krohan, has promoted Merros to the commander of the whole army and together they have become the strength and brains behind the throne.
At this point they are scrambling to figure out the best action for the realm's safety and trying to protect the right of Nachia Krous to assend to the throne.
. . At the same time, the Sa'ba Taalor's kings are gathering to make their plans fro war, and at this time all of them are willing to work together, since their gods have asked it of them, and the Sa'ba people are nothing if not obedient to their gds!

Desh has sent all of his gorgeous apprentice ladies to different parts of the land in order to research as much as they can about their adversary, while his designated ambassador to the Sa'ba is traveling with Drask Silverhand and co.
is walking toward the Seven Forges Mountains through the Blasted Lands, as a way to prove himself to the gods who have granted him new hands! Andover Iron Hands is slowly shedding his youth and inexperience and is becoming a worthy warrior.
. .

" "“What was it that Drask Silver Hand had said to him Life is pain, Oh, how he lived just then, ” "

In this second book of the Seven Forges series, the author gives us more world building, more players enter the field, and the world is bubbling in the verge of a war, sure to bring with it unnatural destruction and much bloodshed.
. . We get plenty of it here as well, but it is a book that feels like a preparation, like foreplay before the big main event, . . I love the build up and can only hope that the event itself would be just as satisfying! I wish I had more of my favorite Swech, but even what we did get was quite exciting.
Also, we learned what they hide behind the veils, and I have to tell you, it was nothing I expected and it was completely and totally creeptastik!!!

To all who are interested in the darker side of fantasy, this is definitely a worthy read, but I would recommend to read it in order, or it will make no sense.
There is blood, there is violence, there is magic, and there is combat, If this sounds like something you might enjoy, do read it! It is fun:::


I wish you all Happy Reading and many adventures in the pages of a good book!!!




Second in the Seven Forges series, The Blasted Lands by James A.
Moore continues where sitelinkSeven Forges left off, The emperor of Fellein is dead and armies are gathering on both sides, Put in charge of the military aspect of the twelve kingdoms, reluctant general, Merros Dulver, begins to learn the truth about his empire, Its crumbling at the edges, and at the seams, The middle appears somewhat rotten, too,

Crowning a new empress halts the rot for a while, lifting the spirits of the people, Its not long before the rest of Nachia Krous family plot to remove her from the throne, however, They may not have to bother, as the Sooth has predicted the fall of her city, Add that to the list of concerns carried by her First Advistor, Desh Krohan, To the top of the list, over the fact a neighbouring kingdom has been reduced to rubble, leaving another bereft princess in Fellein, The black ships along the coast become more than a rumour, Patrols and scouts sent to rally allies find slaughter and ruin, but no bodies, One of Deshs acolytes is sent to investigate the Mounds, The Saba Taalor are forbidden to go there, Felleins foray has all the feel of a desperate act and the small troop encounters much danger along the way,

Most worrying of all is the threat of

the Sa'ba Taalor, Will they come silently and swiftly to war Will the legendary race of warriors show any mercy They receive an answer in part, in the form of an invitation to parlay.


At this point, the story finally lumbers toward action, only to meet the end of the book, which is typical of a sequel, or middle book of a series.
The slow pace of The Blasted Lands, while sometimes frustrating, does accurately illustrate the speed of war, It takes time to gather an army, recruit a navy and generally flap about in panic, The Saba Taalor do not flap, of course, They move as directed by their mysterious gods and, for all their apparent barbarism, their preparations for war are methodical and precise,

As with the first book, I found Andovers story to be the most compelling, The boy with the metal hands continues his journey as ambassador, Through his eyes, we meet more of the Saba Taalor and learn more about their mythos and culture, I found both to be fascinating and somewhat horrifying, They are an alien people and Moore writes them well, I did wish more time had been devoted to Andover, and by the end of the book, my wish had been granted, But, as any avid reader of epic fantasy will often lament, I need more,

The Blasted Lands ends with more questions than answers, This is not necessarily a bad thing, Each book in a series should invite the reader to move forward, I do hope that the next installment comes with a swifter pace, however, with more war and less individual skirmish, more revelation and fewer questions, I appreciate the time taken to build a compelling world, Next, Id like to inhabit it with the characters as they fight for what they believe in,

Written for sitelinkSFCrowsnest, While Merros Dulver prepares the Empire of Fellein for the possibility of war with the Sa'ba Taalor, Desh Krohan sends an expedition to the Blasted Lands to find The Mounds, the one place the gods of the Taalor forbid them to go.
. .

I got this from Angry Robot via Netgalley

The Blasted Lands picks up where Seven Forges left off, Andover is learning the ways of the Sa'ba Taalor, Merros is in charge of the Imperial Army, And a new empress is crowned, When Tusk invites the Empire to parley, what does he have in mind

I struggled with how to rate this book, On one hand, a lot more of the lore behind the Sa'ba Taalor is revealed: customs, religion, magic, etc, More worldbuilding is done, not quite as seamless as the first book but still very good, The characters introduced in the first book are fleshed out and do a lot to make Moore's world seemed lived in, And we finally know why the Taalor are masked a lot of the time,

There are still plenty of mysteries, however, We still don't know what's beneath the mounds but the bigger mystery is how the Empire can stand up against an enemy that's been training for a thousand years for just such a war.


All that being said, not a whole lot actually happens beyond the expedition to the Mounds, Andover's trials with the Sa'ba Taalor, and a lot of maneuvering.
It did a lot to build my interest in the next book, though,

When all is said and done, it's the middle book in a trilogy and does a great job setting up the next book, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first so I'm giving it a,out of. That ending was pretty freaking awesome!





For the record there wasn't enough of Drask in the book and I have already said I am in love with him from the first book.


I was thrilled to read about Andover Iron Hands and how much his life changed when he went back to be with the Sa'ba Taalor.
He had to go through some trials in order to meet with one of their gods, I just think the whole thing with Andover was freaking awesome, these were my favorite parts of the book!

Swech wasn't in the book too much either but she has some stuff she's got going on and a little secret, maybe more.
They will come out in later books,

I still love Merros and although he was in the book a great bit not a whole lot was going on with him, He is the leader of the army and at Empress Nachia's side, I think the Emperor was right in picking her for the Empress after his death because she's pretty badssed!

I feel like this book was leading up to some serious battles in the next two books.
There are a lot of things going on with different groups and I'm not sure how it's all going to turn out, I just really hope all of the people I love won't die.


I still don't trust the wizard, Desh, I'm not sure why but I feel like something is going to come out about him later on, I may be wrong and he's a great person, We shall see.

Oh, oh and we get to find out why the Sa'ba Taalor wear the mask thingies over their faces and it's wicked cray! I mean wicked cray! I had to come back and update this part because my friend "Luke" said it better.
We find out "what's behind the veil" and that's awesome cool and the reasons behind it, ltNo pun intended!

Overall I enjoyed the book, I did have some moments where it dragged for me when it was just meh stuff with the humans and what not, I mean we got these cool people things and their gods and I want to know all of their stuff, lol

Looking forward to the next book!

MY BLOG: sitelinkMelissa Martin's Reading List The sequel to SEVEN FORGES

The Empire of Fellein is in mourning.
The Emperor is dead, and the armies of the empire have grown soft, Merros Dulver, their newlyappointed and somewhat reluctant commander, has been tasked with preparing them to fight the most savage enemy the world has yet seen,
 
Meanwhile, a perpetual storm ravages the Blasted Lands, and a new threat is about to arise the Broken are coming, and with them only Death.


File Under: Fantasy,