A Time of Dread: 1 (Of Blood & Bone)

Product Information

This story is set in the same world as his previous series but takes place over 100 years later with a new cast of character. While the threat from the original series may have been stopped, new dangers have arisen over the course of 100 years as various factions war for control of the entire realm.

On our site, you can find not only book reviews but author interviews, cover reveals, excerpts from books, acquisition announcements, guest posts by your favourite authors, and so much more. It shows John's unique skill as an author that him just mentioning Corban or Veradis had me so emotionally touched and gripped. A Time Of Dread brings together all of the promise in John Gwynne's debut, Malice, and delivers a truly excellent read! I never wrote a review for this book as I was still trying to get energy back from cancer treatment but I loved it so much! This includes things like graphic content (blood, gore, torture, murder, rape), and explicit sexual content.

From the first book of Malice through to this gem, it is hard to believe that John's skill at writing has become stronger and even more fluid. Let me say this, you do not need to have read The Faithful and the Fallen to enjoy reading this new trilogy as most big events from the previous series mention at some point in these novels. The reader knows there is more to the journey, but it feels as if the story stops and makes camp for the night rather than running off a cliff's edge in the dark. It's within this subtle and shifting moral landscape where Gwynne really shines, never opting for the easy answers.

The novel starts slowly as the characters, their allegiances and the history of the world are gently and cleverly massaged into the reader's mind. I was never tempted to skip a section because it was from the point of view of a character I couldn't engage with. He could have easily thought back on Drem’s childhood and at least given us some sort of connection to Drem’s past and his character outside of just following Drem himself. While they could be read before you read those, you will be missing out on some key information that will help your appreciation for this series all the more. The world building was a bit overwhelming at first, but by the middle I was very intrigued and understood the world better.

When John Gwynne announced this new series, I was both overjoyed at getting to visit this world and it’s characters again, but at the same time very worried. Also, for those of you who had trouble with the myriad amount of characters in TFatF, A Time of Dread casts are smaller in quantity, with only four main POV to follow throughout the entire book; Drem, Riv, Bleda, and one side character from the previous series.

New characters are introduced, and a totally new threat carries on that thematic subtext of good versus evil that was always present in the earlier books. A Time of Dread is going to be on every ‘Best of’ list, and quite frankly you’d be daft not to move it to the top of your ‘must read’ pile.The fact that I finished reading this book in less than a day should say enough about how addictive it was.