A Time of Blood

By: John Gwynne

Narrated by: Damian Lynch

Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

"A great read that accelerates the pace and goes one up on its excellent predecessor... Exciting, action-packed fantasy." (Mark Lawrence)

Defy the darkness. Defend the light.

Drem and his friends are haunted by the horrors they witnessed at the battle at Starstone Lake: the screams of men being warped into beasts and the sight of a demon rising from the dead. But worse than any memory is Fritha, the demons' deadly high priestess. And she is hunting them.

Concealed in Forn Forest, Riv knows her very existence is a threat to the Ben-Elim. She represents their most dangerous secret, and if the warrior angels find her, they won't hesitate to silence her. 

As the demonic forces multiply, they send a mighty host to overthrow the angel's stronghold. Like heroes of old, Drem, Riv, and the Bright Star's warriors must battle to save themselves and save their land. But can the light triumph when the dark is rising?

For more from John Gwynne, check out:  

Of Blood and Bone: 

1. A Time of Dread
2. A Time of Blood
3. A Time of Courage

The Faithful and the Fallen:

1. Malice
2. Valor
3. Ruin
4. Wrath

©2019 John Gwynne (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Nostalgia Trip

This whole series (Blood and Bone) felt like a eulogy for The Faithful and the Fallen series. I love the characters and the interactions, but I knew everything that was going to happen and how it would happen. I don't feel that this did much to add or build upon The Faithful and the Fallen series. It just kind of treads on nostalgia for the previous series, both in terms of plot but also in that it seems to recycle the previous series' archetypes and relationships almost to a T.

The Blood and Bone series scratches the heroic epic/war fantasy itch, but it felt very predictable in relation to its predecessor.

If I could give a book a D it would be this one!

Wow! What a horror! There was not one part of this book that was not a horror! I skipped forward. I skipped back! It was just plain a horror! I don’t know what the writer was going through but I guess his favorite dog died or something.

I mean wow! Depression City! Every one died. Every one was murdered drug down the street and tortured! Even the dam crow! Wow!

If you are having a bad day DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS SAD TORMENT OF A BOOK! You have been warned!

great read

loved it. full of action and the never ending battle between good and evil.

Another page turner

Recently became a John Gwynne fan and this one did not disappoint. The story moves at a great pace and I genuinely enjoy every POV character, can't wait to start the next one.

Not as good as the first 3 books.

Still very entertaining and I will gladly finish the series, but the story has fallen off a bit. Some far-fetched unexplained stuff tucked in that doesn’t make much sense. Much more magic in the second part of the series. And now some … semi-vampire-ish stuff. It’s just all kinda over-done.

The narrator is absolutely amazing and he kinda saves the story with the level of entertainment he brings. He really has a great deal of range with the characters he does.

I love this series

my reason for taking off a star is because I'm not sure if it's the writer's editor, or the narrator's editor at fault for not catching the amount of interchanged pronouns for characters that don't have mixed pronouns, making it hard to follow along at times. the other problem, and I know it's miniscule, but in the last book, a "necklace" was lost in the mine. in this book, it is magically back without any note of how it came back. in fact, at one point it's said it never left the character's neck. it's very small parts of the overall sorry, but I found it distracting. otherwise, I really enjoy these books.

Good story but...

I really like the world and the whole premise. The only thing I don't like about this series are the characters and the politicaly correct that shoves down your throat at times. Thank God its relatively rare but doesn't need to be in the story at all. I get it, racism is bad. The girl and the snow guy suck as main characters. I can't even remember their names. they just suck.

Bittersweet Excitement

John Gwynne is truly a master of his craft.

When I started A Time of Dread, I worried that I would not be able to connect to this story and these new faces after the attachments I’d formed to characters like Corban, Veradis and Camlin. A Time of Blood quickly remedied that. Magic is much more prominent in this trilogy than in the first quartet; but now as then, he weaves it into the tale in a way that suits the world he’s created perfectly. Drem and Cullen are instant favorites, and I love the comedic persona that the author applies to all the bestial companions. This book does not suffer from the sequel curse, much as Valor and Ruin did before it, it serves only to elevate the story and enrich the plot. I am beyond excited to immediately start A Time of Courage, and will be beside myself when this glorious saga of Truth & Courage comes to a close.

If ever I meet John Gwynne, I will offer him the warrior grip and thank him from the bottom of my heart for giving me stories I did not know I needed; stories that I will surely share with my own sons if time and fate are kind enough.

Boring

This book was so boring. I feel bad because I loved Gwynne's first series, The Faithful and the Fallen. The first book of this series started off fine, but in this book, the already too simplistic plot was stretched out. Nothing interesting happened until the very end. I didn't really connect with any of the characters, except maybe Drem. I had to force myself to finish reading it. I miss the large-scale epic saga of The Faith and the Fallen with an array of lovable characters. Sigh, I had high hopes, but this was a disappointment.

Headshaker

I really like the series but it just seems like the “good” guys are absolute morons. Constantly outplayed and maneuvered but I’m sure they will all the sudden become brilliant in the final book. I know we read to escape reality but come on Gwynn, one side can’t be out strategized this bad for two books and then still come out on top, it’s idiotic