My Review of A Throne of Bones by Vox Day

I read A Thrones of Bones because Vox Day does a pretty good job of subtly (your opinion may vary) hyping it up, and I have to say that I'm happy that I did.

I don't read much fantasy. I prefer science fiction. However, I do find myself occasionally desiring to break out of that genre from time to time. I bring this up because the only other two "epic" novels that I've read have been The Stand by Stephen King, and The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien. In  comparison to these two books, I much preferred A Thrones of Bones.

In Comparison to The Stand:

A Throne of Bones doesn't dedicate a significant portion of its middle section on characters that will never appear again - just to fluff the page count, show how bad the world is, and provide an outlet for some of King's numerous, weird hang-ups. Vox, unlike King, also keeps the number of perspective characters to as many as he is willing to handle, which prevented him from having to write some convoluted plot twist where many of the characters are conveniently blown up. The ending in A Throne of Bones is also superior to The Stand's ending. The Stand's ending felt like an incredible waste, and a large WTF?!?! moment for me - the big bad villain is defeated by one of his minions, and the "heroes" contributed absolutely nothing to that defeat - incredibly disappointing. A Throne of Bones' ending sets the stage for the next book in the series, and felt like a good, natural stopping point.

In Comparison to The Fellow of the Rings:

J.R.R. Tolkien is undeniably the father of modern epic fantasy, and his influence on the genre is carried over into the pages of A Throne of Bones. If you're familiar with the Lord of the Rings' orcs, goblins, trolls, dragons, elves, dwarves, and humans, then you'll find Day's fantasy beings comfortably familiar. For me, I never got past Tolkien's first book in his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien spent far too much time in the Shire, focusing on Frodo's life, that ultimately, didn't matter. By the time I got to the end of the book, I was done. To this day, I still don't know if I want to continue reading the series, and since I've seen the movies, I don't really feel the need to. However, with A Throne of Bones, I never got bored. It may have been a bit slow to start, but once "the ball" got rolling, I wanted to keep reading.

I'm now done directly comparing these books.

The story focuses around the consequences of one of the characters' (Corvus's) decision and the growing unrest in the Amorran Empire. It is well paced and none of the scenes or characters seemed wasted or pointless. The central characters are all fleshed out, with motivations, strengths and flaws. It's a bit surprising to find myself liking Severus Patronus's (one of the antagonists) love for his daughter, and understanding Magnus Valerious's (another antagonist) pain and sadness. I also really enjoyed the love between many of the characters, and this is clearly something that Vox is quite versed in.

The world of Selenoth is similar to Middle Earth, but with a Roman Empire twist that was quite refreshing, although I found the Latin names difficult at times. World building is handled well enough. Vox doesn't spend much time on overly descriptive text of the scenery, and in this way is similar to Isaac Asimov and his Foundation Trilogy - a stylistic choice I find myself enjoying. Despite this, you get a good enough sense of the world that your mind can fill in the blanks.

The one flaw, and you may, or may not consider this a flaw, is that if you follow Vox Day at all, then you will see the author in his writing. I personally don't consider this a flaw. Many great authors wrote from their own, personal experiences. Frank Hubert studied beach conservation, and this is reflected in Dune. Stephen King has many hang ups, and it's present in all of his books. Palahniuk experienced some weird shit, and those experiences contributed directly to Fight Club, Rant, and I'm sure much more. While you may not like that, I do, as it contributes to a deeper understanding of the messages that the author wants to convey in their stories.

In conclusion, if you like fantasy, I definitely recommend this book. If you like Vox Day, I definitely recommend this book. A Throne of Bones is a deserving heir to Tolkien's epic, modern fantasy. I look forward to A Sea of Skulls - which is already available, but there is an extended version that I'm waiting on.

A Throne of Bones is available on Amazon.com and is published by Castalia House.